Friday, February 1, 2013

Walk to the light

It is twenty four miles between the blinking yellow lights at the edge of Perry and the state road that leads to Steinhatchee. Both have a store and RV campground and little else. I carried the tent knowing we would be stopping somewhere for the night. Strong winds all day with gusts that floated the eighty pound ball with its force kept my progress slow. I may have covered nine miles before dark where I pitched the tent in tall scrub grass next to the world I had lashed to a tree. The rain came soon after dark on a wind that whipped hard on the small tent. The rain drops sounded like deafening high pitched static against the tent which rocked violently in every direction and billowed in and out from the waves of wind. Water made it's way in across the floor, side and even the vent flaps. Half wet I was determined to sleep but Nice (the dog) was standing over me looking at the tent door as soon as the rain subsided. He won the staring game. I put the tent up wet and we began to walk. The wind changed direction after the rains and pushed me along most of the night. With only the occasional truck on the four lane I was able to stay on the asphalt and use to wind to full advantage . The long straights allowed me to see the headlights for miles before having to roll onto the grass. When I caught a glimpse of the yellow blinking light it was a few miles away and I did not know for sure that it was more than a crossroad but as we got closer I could see the lights of the store. Nice was full of energy and bounded along beside me , he loves walking at night, but was happy when we finally rolled to the Sunoco just as the sky began to change from night to day.
The timing was good because someone was on their way to the Perry and was going to the intersection that we had left twenty two hours earlier. When I returned with the van I rolled the world, then then van to the Rv park behind the store and was asleep for hours before I stirred and was able to clean few loads of clothes and Nice's blankets, glued some of the patchwork on the world that had loosened from the rains and hob-knobbed with the host and hostess of the park. It took me all night to write this post, I kept falling asleep.

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Support the Foundation

Erik Bendl has walked over six thousand miles for the cause of diabetes awareness. During the last six years he and his dog, named Nice, have walked in more than forty states and Washington D.C. to help the American Diabetes Association and encourage people to get healthy with exercise and diet to control and prevent diabetes. His is a simple message... "Love yourself. Go for a walk."

When you see him on the road stop to say hello, walk with him or call him @ (502) 408-5772.http://main.diabetes.org/goto/teamworldguy